Seeing His Phantom
by magicathThedemigod
Summary: NaLu alternate reunion for when Natsu leaves for a year. Lucy sees a young man in town who looks exactly like her partner. But is he real? Or is it just her imagination? One-shot


Lucy didn't know what to say. She didn't know what to do. In fact, she wasn't sure she could do _anything_. What she saw before shocked her to her core. It struck the very center of her being like a savage knife, threatening to bring tears to her face. Of happiness or despair, she couldn't say.

There it was, the spiked pink hair that stuck up at odd angles, the tanned skin that rippled with muscles, the slanted eyes that glowed with compassion. And there was the scarf that was inexpressibly important to the boy before her. But it couldn't be real, he was far away, and the voice that called out joyfully to her could not have been her best friend.

So she turned away, not believing. She cursed her mind silently for playing tricks on her, and she walked away. But as she walked, her heart fluttered with hope, and at the same time, a deep despair fell over the blonde, causing tears to flood her eyes, to drip down her face. The voice, full of warmth and affection, called out again, this time closer.

Lucy Heartfilia ran, she could not bear to hear that voice, not now, not on this day. Her sandaled feet slapped against the cobblestone, and villagers hurried to move out of her way. She held tightly to her purse, running through the town. As she ran, she kept hearing the voice calling for her, but she ignored it. Then her brown eyes caught sight of her right hand,the one bearing the mark of Fairy Tail, and her eyes shone with fresh tears, her legs becoming wobbly.

But she didn't stop, because the voice of her best friend called out again, this time almost on top of her, so she fled from it with renewed vigor. She couldn't bear it, not after what she had gone through, she couldn't bear adding him to her misery. And then something caught her hand, forcing her to a screeching halt. The hand holding her was warm, and it's touch sent shiver down her spine. The apparition behind her spoke again.

"Lucy?"

She was close to sobbing now. The hand tugged slightly, silently asked her to turn around. She didn't, but her grip on the hand was iron.

"Lucy, are you okay? C'mon, look at me," his voice echoed in her heart. She wanted to look, she did, but he would disappear if she did. And then another hand reached out and pulled her around.

Lucy couldn't bring herself to close her eyes. She beheld the figure in front of her, the figure she had etched into her memory, now holding both her hands and gazing into her tear stained face with worry and confusion evident in his onyx eyes. She stared back at him, her eyes clearly showing her sense of loss and a deep, cavernous pain that would never be fully healed.

"Luce, what's wrong?" he asked her, letting go of her hand and wiping the tears from her face. She couldn't answer, she couldn't risk it.

Her eyes saw a flicker of motion. It was his muscled chest, invisible under the black and orange, one-sleeved waistcoat he wore. It was moving up and down, he was breathing. Lucy slowly moved her incredulous gaze to his face, a hand reaching up and a slim finger tracing the side of his face. Her breath caught.

"N-natsu?" she breathed. He grinned under her fingertips. Her breathing came in shuddering gasps as her heart sang with inexpressible joy so profound, there wasn't a strong enough word for it, her face splitting in a huge smile. "Natsu!"

"Took you long enough Lu-" Natsu was cut off as Lucy grabbed him into a tight hug, bawling into his shoulder.

"It's you, it's really you!" she cried in relief, muffled by his shoulder, tears pouring from her eyes and soaking into Natsu's shirt. "You're real, you're here!"

"It's me," he whispered uncharacteristically into her ear. Natsu buried his face into her soft, golden hair, holding her tightly to his chest. Her fingers clinging desperately to his shirt, as if afraid he might suddenly vanish, she pulled him ever closer.

"You're never leaving me alone ever again, you hear me?" Lucy sobbed. She felt Natsu tighten his grip on her, silently reassuring her he wouldn't.

oOo

When Lucy had calmed down, the sun was setting, casting a warm glow over the town. She leaned heavily on Natsu's chest, exhausted, prompting the strong boy to scoop her up, carrying the poor girl to her home, which he could smell her scent coming from. The girl in his arms fell asleep almost instantly, snuggling unconsciously into the warm boy and wrapping her arms lazily around his neck.

He gazed down at Lucy with a loving look as he stepped over the threshold of her home in Crocus. The girl sleeping against his chest had tried tears on her face, but she looked so at peace with him there, he almost didn't want to let go. But when he spotted her bed, he knew he had to. So as he shut the door quietly behind them with his foot, he carried her over and deposited Lucy gently onto the bed, making sure to pull the covers up to her chin before settling in beside her, as he had done countless times before.

As he lay gazing at her sleeping face, Natsu wondered about Lucy's initial reaction to seeing him on the street. He supposed it was because she didn't believe he was there-he saw the look on her face before she ran- but why was she crying? He was sure they weren't tears of joy. After wrestling with the problem for an hour, Natsu decided that Lucy was just weird, and he should really just go to sleep.


End file.
